Its entirely okay if you dont go home for Thanksgiving this year

Its entirely okay if you dont go home for Thanksgiving this yearIts entirely okay if you dont go home for Thanksgiving this yearThe holidays come in a rush, with a whirlwind of travel expectations in addition to the gifts you have to buy. As soon as Halloween passes, youre in the countdown to Thanksgiving, which quickly leads to the winter succession of celebrations. Its a quick wind-up from binging on candy to traveling home twice in two months.Unless you dont.There are so many reasons why its completely, absolutely okay not to make it home for Thanksgiving. It doesnt mean youre avoiding yur family (and its also alright if you are). It doesnt make you a holiday-hating grump (but if turkey isnt your thing, thats cool, too). It does mean you have other stuff going on, whether its a tight budget, a full travel schedule or other people to celebrate with.Personally, I love my family and I dont really care for turkey dinners, but this will be the third Thanksgiving since I moved away from my Midwestern home state that Ill be missing the holiday. And if youve got any of the three rationals I use in my no RSVP up your sleeve, you can feel just as confident in choosing to skip your parents potatoes, turkey and pie.If you cant afford it During my first year living in New York City, I was scraping together rent every month. There was no way I could spring for a flight across the country. And my fellow intern and assistant friends were dealing with the same problem.Holiday travel is expensive, sometimes terrifyingly so when you realize its two inflated priced tickets in two months. That can pinch your wallet further than is possible if youre at the beginning of your career working with an entry-level salary. If your budget is a little tight, its okay if you have to opt out. Its completely valid to choose groceries, rent or even a necessary new pair of boots.For those eager to landsee their families but wary of paying exorbitant holiday travel prices, we suggest going home another time of year. If your family is really set on it, you could even bake a pumpkin pie in March when travel deals are a little kinder on your wallet.If you want to use those vacation days In July, I found the perfect flight deal - $500 roundtrip to Thailand. The only catch? The flight leaves the Saturday before Thanksgiving. So I called my family and told them that Id bring them some souvenirs from Bangkok for Christmas but Id miss this years Turkey Day.Lets be real Vacation days are at a premium. So the Thursday and Friday around Thanksgiving (and sometimes an extra half day on Wednesday) are prime real estate for a trip over the long weekend. We get it if you want to venture out into the world for those five days. Bonus points if you get the fam to come along for the rideIf youve made your own traditionsThe word Friendsgiving seems to have percolated up through the Twitterverse and other spheres of the internet around 2007, right when the first millennials were hitting thei r mid-twenties. And we, as a generation, have adopted the idea of eating turkey, potatoes and pie with our friends - our chosen family. Once Pinterest came around, we were sold on the idea of DIYing our own Thanksgivings in small apartments, sometimes without an actual dinner table.No matter if you adore your familys inside jokes or if youre trying your hardest to avoid your racist, sexist Uncle Arnolds commentary over sweet potatoes, its alright if you want to spend Thanksgiving with your friends instead. And for those of you who celebrate Friendsgiving the weekend before with the squad and find yourself riding solo on the third Thursday in November, make yourself a nice turkey, brie and apple grilled cheese, pour yourself a glass of spiked cider and queue up a nice binge-watch on Netflix.Now, unless youre some sort of magician, its hard to prep breakfast in bed for yourself entirely. But you can do some clever meal hacking to make sure your cook time is minimal in the morning and you can roll out of bed, fetch your breakfast and roll right back in.Wesuggest overnight oatsor a pre-stacked yogurt parfait. Both can be made in advance, eaten cold, look pretty for any selfcare photos you want for the gramand create minimal mess when eating on your duvet.Thispostwas originally published onSwirled.comin the Thrive section, which covers valuable career and personal finance content for Millennials.